Jamestwon Sun - Hoeven Speaks To Importance Of Bison To State, Country

News Article

By Chris Olson

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., has an idea on how to celebrate when Washington holds an induction ceremony for the legislation designating bison as the national animal:

Have a live bison on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building.

"I figure in Washington that should generate some interest," Hoeven said during his address to the North Dakota Buffalo Association in Jamestown Saturday night.

Hoeven spoke at the association's 25th anniversary banquet. He presented a copy of the law naming the bison as the national mammal to the NDBA's board of directors. Hoeven talked about the effort to get the legislation passed and signed into law and the impact that ranchers who raise bison have on North Dakota and the nation.

"The bison industry, a $340 million enterprise, is making the animal known across the country for its healthy meat, valuable hids and other byproducts," he said in a prepared statement.

Hoeven said the idea for celebrating the bison started with people like Harold Newman, the Jamestown resident who led the effort to create the World's Largest Buffalo statue that is part of Frontier Village.

"Every time I drive by and see that big, I call it a bison, buffalo, I think of him," Hoeven said. Newman died in 2014.

Hoeven said he recently got a chance to walk through Frontier Village and the National Buffalo Museum and wanted to thank those institutions and the people who make them run for helping to preserve and promote the North American bison.

Hoeven said with his family's background in ranching -- his grandfather raised registered Hereford cattle near Forbes, N.D. -- he has a "great appreciation" for ranchers, cowboys and the Old West, including the bison.

He said the National Bison Association came to him and asked him to be part of the effort to have the bison named the national mammal. Hoeven said he got Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., to work with him in the Senate to get support for the legislation. In the House of Representatives, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., introduced legislation in the House supporting the designation. Hoeven said South Dakota's Republican Rep. Kristi Noem was also key in getting support for the legislation.

Hoeven said there were three groups supporting the legislation as well: The InterTribal Buffalo Council, which is made up of 16 Native American tribes from around the country; the National Bison Association, of which the North Dakota Buffalo Association is a member; and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Hoeven said the legislation got support because all three groups had the same story to tell about the bison -- how there had been millions of bison roaming the country in the early 1800s. Then by 1905 it was estimated there were only about 2,000 bison left.

"Teddy Roosevelt took this on, saying we have to preserve these animals or they will be extinct," Hoeven.

Hoeven said a breeding program was started at the Bronx Zoo, but it was ranchers who initially saved what was left of the bison by rounding up the remaining herds.

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